Photographing People is HARD!

[Manfred M]

I've taken loads of portraits in the past with 2 photofloods on film. Short life daylight tungsten types.

So did I, but these were 250W to 500W overrun tungsten bulbs, not 45W CF bulbs. Hot lights at 1/15 to 1/30 sec exposures with hard reflectors. Colour balance meant I was using tungsten balanced film when not shooting B&W. The darn things only lasted a couple of hours of burn time. Most of the shots had the subject with tiny pupils and if I took too long, beads of sweat started to form and of course I needed to wear heavy duty leather gloves to minimimize the risk of burn when adjusting the darn things.

The last time I shot hot lights was about 3 years ago.

[Mike Buckley]

OFF TOPIC

The last time I shot hot lights was about 3 years ago.

The last time for me is shown below. Despite all appearances, I didn't shoot it with a gun.

[ajohnw]

So did I, but these were 250W to 500W overrun tungsten bulbs, not 45W CF bulbs. Hot lights at 1/15 to 1/30 sec exposures with hard reflectors. Colour balance meant I was using tungsten balanced film when not shooting B&W. The darn things only lasted a couple of hours of burn time. Most of the shots had the subject with tiny pupils and if I took too long, beads of sweat started to form and of course I needed to wear heavy duty leather gloves to minimimize the risk of burn when adjusting the darn things.

The last time I shot hot lights was about 3 years ago.

Well the ones I used had nothing remotely like that power Manfred. More round the 100w - 150W daylight types. However I never used reflectors only the ones in the lamp. No diffusers either. I do vaguely remember a spot light kicking about with that sort of power but never used it. The last time I shot like this was probably over 30 years ago.

Photography never ever gets simpler. Not good for equipment sales. Reminds me of telling some one that I developed slide and colour film via a precision thermometer with occasional dips into a bowl of hot water to keep the temperature correct. Many did.

John
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[Manfred M]

The last time for me is shown below. Despite all appearances, I didn't shoot it with a gun.

I seem to remember that a drop of water onto a hot bulb could do that kind of damage. No gun required...

[ajohnw]

OFF TOPIC



The last time for me is shown below. Despite all appearances, I didn't shoot it with a gun.

F22 Mike - you must have problems with diffraction. It's surprisingly sharp too for 1/6 sec, the glass may have moved. And -1.5EV.

Interesting shot. I have never seen one explode only fail. I had a clip on light around until about 15 years ago that I sometime got out for decorating. The bulb just went as they always did eventually. I'd guess yours got to hot.

John
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[Suzan J]

Manfred, it is interesting that you said that my lights would be only good for table top shots with long exposures. That seems to be case. Here is a link to Amazon showing what I have.

http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-P...raphy+lighting

I bought it because I thought I might try some still photography in my basement over the winter. I did need a tripod with longer exposures for all the still life shots I tried. Here is an example with a shutter speed of 1/20 and a relatively high ISO. (Since it was on a tripod, I now realize I should have just dropped the ISO and lengthened the shutter speed.)

_DSC1508 by Soo J, on Flickr

Anyway, It is now apparent to me that these lights will only be useful for still life pictures which is OK as that is why I bought them in the first place and they were a relatively small investment. For people shots, I will have to look into an entirely different set-up. I will definitely come to this forum for advice when that time comes. For now, I will limit my portraits to natural settings outdoors or using a large window and reflectors.

[ajohnw]

Manfred, it is interesting that you said that my lights would be only good for table top shots with long exposures. That seems to be case. Here is a link to Amazon showing what I have.

http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-P...raphy+lighting

I bought it because I thought I might try some still photography in my basement over the winter. I did need a tripod with longer exposures for all the still life shots I tried. Here is an example with a shutter speed of 1/20 and a relatively high ISO. (Since it was on a tripod, I now realize I should have just dropped the ISO and lengthened the shutter speed.)

_DSC1508 by Soo J, on Flickr

Anyway, It is now apparent to me that these lights will only be useful for still life pictures which is OK as that is why I bought them in the first place and they were a relatively small investment. For people shots, I will have to look into an entirely different set-up. I will definitely come to this forum for advice when that time comes. For now, I will limit my portraits to natural settings outdoors or using a large window and reflectors.

If these don't have silvered reflectors I am not surprised that little light gets onto the subject. The description seems to refer to them as flash diffusers.

John
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[Mike Buckley]

MORE OFF TOPIC

F22 Mike - you must have problems with diffraction. It's surprisingly sharp too for 1/6 sec, the glass may have moved.

It's a shame that EXIF data doesn't indicate whether a tripod is used.

I have never seen one explode only fail.

It didn't explode. When it failed, I broke it so I could photograph it. I've got one or two others reserved for the same purpose.

[Mike Buckley]

Considering the name of the brand (Cowboy Studio), the girl's hat and the background, I definitely would have used that lighting set.

[Manfred M]

Suzan - I had a quick look at the setup you have via the link. It needs a couple of small modifictions to turn them into a fairly decent setup for portrature. Simply replace the existing light with a flash bracket and speedlight and you can use the setup for portraiture. You already own the light stands and the umbrellas.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...et%2Caps%2C241

[ajohnw]

MORE OFF TOPIC



It's a shame that EXIF data doesn't indicate whether a tripod is used.



It didn't explode. When it failed, I broke it so I could photograph it. I've got one or two others reserved for the same purpose.

We might know about the tripod if it stated IS on or off or admire your steady hand.

I should have added something to my previous post that is on topic. The lighting I used was nothing remotely like the items on Amazon. The reflectors were solid metal and the whole things real studio equipment, not pack near flat items. The reflectors were generally based on parabolas to concentrate the bulk of the light of the bulbs in the wanted direction. Some had additional surface shapes to diffuse the light rather than front fitting diffusers.

I am not at all sure what some silver foil coloured square thing with straight sides would do. Maybe some of the high star reviews on these specific ones mention what they used.

John
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[Mike Buckley]

We might know about the tripod if it stated IS on or off

Or as in this case, nonexistent.